Our guide to an effective periodontist marketing plan to grow your practice

Historically, periodontists could grow their practice from doctor and word-of-mouth referrals, but an ever-increasing reliance on the Internet is forcing them to go digital.

With more people flocking to the Internet to check websites, social media and online reviews, dentists need to expand their definition of ‘referral.’

Now, periodontists must develop an effective digital marketing strategy to attract new patients and grow their practice.

What is digital dental marketing?

Digital dental marketing is the use of several channels on the Internet to increase awareness about your periodontal practice.

It might seem futile since you most likely serve a localized demographic, but digital marketing is necessary if you want new patients to find you. Nowadays, most people are using search engines such as Google to search for and investigate healthcare providers.

Digital marketing includes any online channel that promotes your dental practice, such as:

• Paid ads on Google or Facebook
• A search engine optimized (SEO) website design
• Content marketing, like a blog
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing campaigns
• Online reputation management, like online reviews and testimonials

How can a periodontist promote and grow their practice?

Promoting your dentistry practice requires a solid marketing plan, but it doesn’t need to be overly complicated.

There are tools you can take advantage of, such as Broadly’s suite of marketing services, to help ease the burden on you and your team. Still, it helps to understand fundamental online marketing even if you have a marketing team.

The following periodontal marketing tips can help you gain more new patients and grow your dental practice.

Be consistent with your image (brand)

Your image defines your brand (yes, even dentists are a brand!) and will set you apart from other dentists online.

When you adopt a multi-channel approach — including social media, your website and Google — it’s essential to have consistent messaging across the board.

If you choose a funny, more casual approach to periodontal disease, be funny everywhere your audience might find you.

If your patient base gets used to your comical approach to a serious disease and you suddenly pivot, they may get confused and seek another dentist.

Build a responsive, user-friendly website

Your dental website greatly influences how well you rank in search engine results. But there’s more to it than publishing a one-page site.

There are several criteria that Google uses to rank your website:

• Easy navigation: Don’t make your visitors work hard to find the information they need
• Accessibility: Add web chat and other accessible features like simple text that can easily translate with talk-to-speech
• Mobile-friendly: 50% of all online searches take place on smartphones
• Professional: Use clear text and original images

If you don’t think your current website is doing your dental practice justice, marketing experts such as Broadly can build an affordable, high-quality dental website to help improve rankings.

Claim your Google Business Profile

Because your periodontal practice most likely serves a local patient base, it’s a good idea to claim your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). It is essentially an online business card where you can promote your business locally.

97% of the population uses the Internet to find a local business. And since dentistry typically serves a local community, it’s an added way to boost your online visibility.

Manage your online reputation

An online reputation management strategy is critical to your periodontist marketing plan.

Over 40% of Americans choose a dentist based on positive online reviews — think of them as the digital equivalent of patient testimonials.

The more positive reviews your periodontal practice has, the greater your chances are of winning business over another dentist.

The good news is that it’s easy to automate review requests with review management software. With Broadly, you can request, monitor and respond to reviews on multiple channels, such as Google and Facebook, all in one place.

Reviews also influence your search engine ranking, as Google rewards business profiles with lots of positive reviews.

Invest in search engine optimization (SEO)

The most popular form of search engine optimization for dentists is content creation, such as a blog and social media posts.

With a consistent blog, you can begin to win your slice of the search engine pie with educational articles on topics related to periodontal health. For example, if someone searches “dental implants” and comes across your blog, it will lead them back to your website.

From there, you can convert them to a new patient with a call-to-action (CTA) at the bottom of your article to get in touch with your dental office and book a consultation.

There are also impactful ways to improve SEO on your website that a marketing team such as Broadly can help with.

When outlining your content marketing strategy, include SEO and watch your rankings increase over the next several months.

Use paid ads to promote your dental practice

While there are many free ways to promote your periodontal practice, paid ads help boost your marketing efforts.

Paid ads, often referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, are a cost-effective way to drive even more traffic to your website.

Facebook and Google are the two most common channels for dentists to run PPC ads because targeting a local audience and bidding on keywords that potential patients might use to find a local dentist is easy.

Create email marketing campaigns

If you aren’t already emailing your current patient base, now is an excellent time to start!

Email campaigns are an ideal way to keep in touch with your patients and build relationships with prospective patients. If someone has used your dental services in the past, or recently joined your email list, don’t leave them hanging.

You can send email campaigns for things like:

• Requesting online reviews
• Offering seasonal specials on dental procedures
• Reminding your client base about your referral program
• Sharing holiday hours
• A series of educational emails during oral healthcare month

The email open rate for healthcare is 23.7%. These numbers present a solid case for including email campaigns as part of your periodontist marketing strategy.

Broadly can help your dental practice get started with email campaigns thanks to easy-to-customize dental email templates.

Be active on social media

More than half of the world actively uses social media, including your new periodontal patients.

Social media is a chance to be informal, show off patient testimonials with before-and-after photos and build rapport. One of the great things about social media is that even though you’re advertising your periodontal practice, it doesn’t feel like marketing.

Dentists can even have fun on TikTok and use it to engage with people who may have never considered booking a periodontist appointment before. You can run fun photo contests and giveaways to engage your followers even more.

And remember, the key to success on social media is consistency and posting various formats, from entertaining video clips to educational posts to candid pictures of your dental office.

Do periodontists need online marketing?

Since 87% of the population uses the Internet to search for and investigate healthcare providers, online periodontal marketing is an absolute must for patient acquisition.

Almost half of adults in the U.S. suffer from gum disease. Chances are, if someone is experiencing symptoms like bleeding or swollen gums, they will look it up online before booking an appointment with their dentist.

This is your moment to shine, as many people don’t know how to prevent or treat gum disease. If someone searches, “my gums are bleeding” or “what are dental implants?” you want them to land on your website. But prospective patients will never find you if you don’t have a solid online presence.

And unless you’re the sole periodontist in a small town, you need new patients to keep your practice open and thriving.

Grow your periodontist practice with Broadly

The most significant payoff from a well-constructed digital marketing strategy is ranking highly in Google or other search engines such as Bing — essentially, anywhere prospective patients search for a dentist.

Broadly offers an extensive suite of marketing tools to help grow your periodontist practice with ease. From Reviews software to manage online reviews to a Web Chat to make your website more accessible to custom templates for better email marketing Campaigns.

Consider Broadly as your personal marketing team to remain competitive in a digital world and grow your dental practice.

Want to learn how Broadly can help with your periodontal marketing strategy?